Cirque & Sky
Kathleen Willard’s book of poems is a series of pastorals and anti-pastorals set entirely in the Rocky Mountain West serve as an object lesson and a canary in the mine for the rest of the world. The West is the epicenter for climate change and currently grapples with results of the world heating up. Furious fracking, numerous Superfund sites, poor air and water quality, super wildfires, floods, drought and insect infestations are subjects that concern Willard. Her pastorals document her awe and love of nature, while her anti-pastorals warn of consequences of our lack of stewardship to the natural world. Cirque & Sky is an important text in the environmental literary canon.
